I remember how when the school released the video of the incident it was cut and spliced and had jump cuts all in it. It showed everything before and after, but not the incident itself. That videotape was cut up more than an emo girl's wrists.

Walker:I remember how when the school released the video of the incident it was cut and spliced and had jump cuts all in it. It showed everything before and after, but not the incident itself. That videotape was cut up more than an emo girl's wrists.

this. that video was so sketchy; and hate to think it but how much you want to bet there is no other copy (digital or tape) still available?

gregory311:What's a couple of hours when there's hate involved, you know?

I went to college in Valdosta, I haven't really spent that much time in Macon, in the 90s at least, the politics and racial climate of the place resembled what you would have expected to find in the south in the 1950s.

swankywanky:Walker: I remember how when the school released the video of the incident it was cut and spliced and had jump cuts all in it. It showed everything before and after, but not the incident itself. That videotape was cut up more than an emo girl's wrists.

this. that video was so sketchy; and hate to think it but how much you want to bet there is no other copy (digital or tape) still available?

swankywanky:Walker: I remember how when the school released the video of the incident it was cut and spliced and had jump cuts all in it. It showed everything before and after, but not the incident itself. That videotape was cut up more than an emo girl's wrists.

this. that video was so sketchy; and hate to think it but how much you want to bet there is no other copy (digital or tape) still available?

Isn't something like that, you know, tampering with evidence and a felony?

Shouldn't someone be in jail JUST for that action?

I bet the officials involved were also outraged when Clinton lied about a blowjob.

/was anyone really buying the "crawled INTO a rolled up mat to retrieve a shoe" theory?

It's a majority black city. The principal is black. I would say it's far more of a "cover our asses" moment than racism.

Motivation, IMHO, is irrelevant. If idiot administrators are covering their ass by committing a felony then put them in jail. The current bullshiat that people with white collars should get fined and slapped on the wrist has to go.

You are right, this case was not swept under the rug because he was black. It was swept under the rug because he was not from a prominent local family, not a star football player, and most importantly, a murder would have looked bad to the school's athletic department. Race probably doesn't play into it. I noticed the other High School in the area is being questioned as well, I would bet that some kind of intimidation by both schools athletic departments are being accused of intimidation. Valdosta/Lowndes could have been the setting for Friday Night Lights.

So, the best I can surmise from the minimal evidence is that this kid may have been accidentally killed while being bullied by football players, and the administration covered it up/didn't pursue it aggressively because football is GOD in South Georgia. Still seems like it should be a GBI investigation; is being denied justice because you're not a football player a federal civil rights issue?

nubzers:swankywanky: Walker: I remember how when the school released the video of the incident it was cut and spliced and had jump cuts all in it. It showed everything before and after, but not the incident itself. That videotape was cut up more than an emo girl's wrists.

this. that video was so sketchy; and hate to think it but how much you want to bet there is no other copy (digital or tape) still available?

mbillips:So, the best I can surmise from the minimal evidence is that this kid may have been accidentally killed while being bullied by football players, and the administration covered it up/didn't pursue it aggressively because football is GOD in South Georgia. Still seems like it should be a GBI investigation; is being denied justice because you're not a football player a federal civil rights issue?

shortymac:This death stunk to high heaven and I'm glad someone is doing something about it.

If anything, there's a lot of general farking incompetence in the macon police and coroners office.

It DIDN'T HAPPEN IN MACON. Sheesh. That's just the dateline of where the story was filed. Lowndes County is about two hours south of Macon, and much more rural. Not that Macon hasn't had its own incompetent coroner (which is an elected position requiring no qualification whatsoever). In the late '80s, they had a guy who was so racist and so blasé about his job that he mistakenly declared a victim died of natural causes when he'd actually been shot in the head. The coroner's excuse was that he couldn't see the bullet hole "in all that wool on his head."

Typical Georgia county coroner is a funeral home director who does it in his spare time. If they get something suspicious, they're supposed to call in the state medical examiner's office.

mbillips:shortymac: This death stunk to high heaven and I'm glad someone is doing something about it.

If anything, there's a lot of general farking incompetence in the macon police and coroners office.

It DIDN'T HAPPEN IN MACON. Sheesh. That's just the dateline of where the story was filed. Lowndes County is about two hours south of Macon, and much more rural. Not that Macon hasn't had its own incompetent coroner (which is an elected position requiring no qualification whatsoever). In the late '80s, they had a guy who was so racist and so blasé about his job that he mistakenly declared a victim died of natural causes when he'd actually been shot in the head. The coroner's excuse was that he couldn't see the bullet hole "in all that wool on his head."

Typical Georgia county coroner is a funeral home director who does it in his spare time. If they get something suspicious, they're supposed to call in the state medical examiner's office.

Magnus:shortymac: This death stunk to high heaven and I'm glad someone is doing something about it.

If anything, there's a lot of general farking incompetence in the macon police and coroners office.

shall we repeat the word "Valdosta" a thousand times until you start perceiving facts laid out quite clearly in the article?

Forgive me, I got the exact geographical area wrong. I am not from Georgia and didn't have a clue.

Incredulous:Why is the FBI involved? Where is the Federal jurisdiction?

Incredulous? Or Concerned? And who precisely do you suggest custodiet ipsos custodes? In cases of malfeasance or incompetence at the local government level are we supposed to, I don't know...wait for the invisible hand of the free market to fix it somehow?

Before you start screaming "cover up", please do some more research from actual non-biased sources. The Feds have gotten involved, but so far they have given no indication what-so-ever that they disagree with the State's findings in the investigation. There has been zero new evidence at all that points to a cover up, while at the same time, further analysis of what evidence there actually is in the case, has only continued to reinforce the official findings. There's nothing fishy about the surveillance videos, there's no sign that they were tampered with, the original theory of the case, while bizarre, has been shown to be both physically possible and in line with all the evidence gathered at the site. At this point, it would be one of the biggest cover ups in criminal history if it was discovered that Kendrick Johnson's death was anything other than a tragic accident.

Somebody had parents who expected him to get an education and get the hell out of south Georgia crossed up with one of the football fools the area is known for. The bigotry angle is that by trying to escape rural crushing poverty with an scholastic scholarship versus a football scholarship is called 'acting white' by one group or 'getting uppity' by another group. Both groups prefer the status quo, so deviants must be eliminated.

Valdosta High School covers the city of Valdosta and is mostly black so I really doubt it was racism. Almost all the teachers and administrators are black. The county school Lowndes High covered all the suburbs and is mostly white. I would buy the covering for the football team theory but that is a heck of a risk to take. But it would be black on black crime covered up by black coaches and administrators.